In this year’s elections to the European Parliament, 16,325 persons voted in Finland’s missions and offices abroad, while 228 Finnish crew members cast their advance votes on board ships.

Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Deputy Executive Director for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), will visit Finland on 23–24 May.

The OECD will hold its Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) in Paris on 22–23 May 2019. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.

Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen, accompanied by a business delegation, will visit Japan on 22–24 May 2019, where he will also participate in the events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and Japan.

The Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ended successfully. The member States unanimously adopted a Declaration, which emphasises the far-reaching significance of the Council of Europe for human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

The Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has invited the honorary consuls representing Finland in Latin America for a visit to Helsinki on 20-22 May 2019.

EU development ministers will have a meeting at the Foreign Affairs Council on 16 May in Brussels. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.

The Session of the Committee of Ministers, to be held at Finlandia Hall on 17 May 2019, will mark the end of Finland’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. At the meeting, Finland will hand over the Presidency to France. More than 30 ministers from the member States of the Council of Europe will attend the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Timo Soini.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 13 and 14 May. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The Council will discuss Libya and the situation in the Sahel.

In the upcoming government formation talks, a more determined approach must be adopted towards global challenges such as climate change and poverty. The Development Policy Committee's response to the challenge is a global responsibility model, which would form a foundation for the conduct of development policy for several parliamentary terms and across administrative boundaries.